[Available again! - BLF special edition light] new Sofirn AAA twisty high CRI 5mm LED

For a lower current the resistance must go up, so it starts with removing the stock 220 resistor. Removing a resistor often is the hard part for me, one reason could be that industrial solders may be lead-free and have a high melting temperature. (my method for heating up the resistor is loading the solder tip with a large solder blob and cover the whole resistor with that blob, once the resistor unsolders launch it with something pointy like the tip of your tweezer, or maybe a tooth pick).

If you want to increase the current the resistance must go down, Noctiluco posted a while ago that a complete bypass a bit more that doubles the current (so about 50mA to the led), that is easier, a simple solder blob on top of the resistor could do that, electrically connecting the two sides. Or a bit more subtle is solder an extra resistor on top of the old one. Or you could still go for removing the old resistor and replace it.

Removing it is, as you said, the hard part. I’d try a small copper wire, but 50mA is not so challenging for the 32K-C-EX.

Is it me or is this light basically a fenix e01 with slightly deeper “reflector”?

The fenix “reflector” seems to be a little cleaner beam imo, but i only have a handful of them to compare 3 fenix / 4 sofirn. I had put rngwn sourced in the fenix without soldering for easy to change leds for tinkering. Has worked well.

Btw, on fenix one had no oring, and all were potted. The potting makes a little shelf for the next led if you get the orig led removed cleanly.

One fenix had gooey uncured or false cured epoxy.

Two of my sofirn (black) lights are potted, i recommend “cracking” the pot seal with channel lock or carefully set visegrips (and isolating layer) before trying to push out led/ driver, especially if pulling from driver side, if not, see earlier pics of drivers and their bits separated from failed extractions (my first fenix at to much $$$…was torn up in likewise manner)

Hey… is trump the potting compound splitting (tearing) us all apart, leaving the bits scattered and broken on two sides…

Dang it…Couldn’t “resist” that. I should’ve kept it “light”.

What a circus! Minus the entertainment factor. Glad i have a hobby to keep “focused” on…

Sorry.

Anyhow, back to the first point, the inside bits look very similar to my fenix e01. Output may be more on the fenix lights?? (Estimation based on non scientific testing)

The only obvious difference on the driver is what i think is called an “inductor”. Of course that is just a flash visual comparison.

Sheesh.

Lastly a question… was the old blf yuji 5mm a single mode also? And how were they side by side to fenix e01? Now my genius is kicking in, the names are similar! c01, e01…whaaaa

I would really like a driver like nitecore tube or klaurus mi2 (not sure model#) in the form factor of aaa tube light like c01/e01.

Btw2, the fenix heads and sofirn heads appear to be interchangeable, in my extensive one light testing.

I was closely involved with the design of the C01 and indeed the Sofirn C01 was 100% started as a Fenix E01 clone, which was at the time the E01 was discontinued by Fenix and many people still loved it, the dimensions of the light and the driver design were copied. During the design stage there was a lot of discussion here in this thread on what what could be improved on the E01 and that resulted in a two-way clip, a centered keyring attachment that combines with tailstanding, and holes in the tail for a magnet and a tritium vial. It must be added that the Nichia GS led of the E01 was cool low CRI and “throwy”, while the Yuji’s of the C01 were warmer (5600Kband 3200K option was available, even 5600K was significantly warmer than the “purple” Nichia GS), better tinted 95CRI, and very floody (60 degrees leds). The current batch with 3400K Sophia high CRI leds is very similar to the 3200K Yuji version.

thank you to everyone that has helped to make this project a success, including the customers,
the head instigators in charge:
djozz, slowtechstef,

and Barry from Sofirn
for your parts in bringing a High CRI Cockroach to the world

I hope for a Titanium and Copper version to follow :slight_smile:

And Noir from Germany contributed with the idea for the novel tail design that combines a centered keyring hole and tailstanding.

All in all, this was a marvellous job! Thanks guys!! :+1: :partying_face:

Yes, great light, I’m not complaining in any way, and this makes sense…i really like not having to pay second hand market / nos prices for the fenixes!.

Love the pocket clip and will be adding magnet, although i generally magnet from the side by plastic tool clip or mag to pocket clip, which is thankfully now present!

Very pleased with these, and not having to be so scared to break one while releasing the potted ones.

Hope i didn’t sound like i was complaining! About the lights.

I tried to talk Barry into a brass version of the C01S a year ago, with extra deep knurling, I tried really hard but as I understood from him, Sofirn’s machinists were not equipped for brass machining. So while it seems routine for Lumintop, Mateminco and Olight among others to bring out copper/brass/titanium versions of their lights, that seems not so for Sofirn. I have not seen Sofirn lights in other than aluminium sofar.

They just launched their first keychain flashlight (SC01) made of stainless steel. Maybe it’s not only a matter of skills and machining but also a matter of their business strategy. Brass, copper and titanium are much more expensive materials that would eventually raise sales prices way above their usual (aluminum lights) prices. Expensive flashlights however could be leveraged by introducing a premium line next to their budget line utilizing expensive raw materials and more complex/more efficient (buck/boost) drivers.

Can any one post a link for the magnets again? Banggood?

I bought mine from FastTech, https://www.fasttech.com/p/4113703 (not sure how good they are, though).
They’re strong enough to technically hold the light at 90 degrees, but if the surface is smooth then the light will start sliding with a light tap.

And here’s the second mod that was needed, 10 minutes with a common solder iron, this is the easiest host ever.

The led is the bit higher current-capable RWN05-32K-C-EX from rngwn (see link), I measured 3007K, 97.2CRI, R9 97 and duv –0.0034 for this particular led ( :heart_eyes: , how nice can a tint get?)

The 220 resistor was replaced by a solder blob, the battery current went up to 135mA and the output was better than I thought: 25 lumen on a alkaline and 21 lumen on a old crappy NiMh. A major brightness update over the 7 lumen stock.

About the beam of the mod above. The RWN05-32K-C-EX led has slight tint unevenness over the beam, but what is more obvious is a ringy “hotspot” caused by the reflecting aluminium of the C01. I may lightly sand the led itself at some point to make the tint more even, but the hotspot was smoothed out very effectively by circular sanding the reflector with 180 grit sandpaper. The appearance of the reflector did not change much, but the beam did.
Left sanded, right stock.

With that resistor mod, how long does the light stay above the stock output Djozz? I assume it is still a battery vampire?

I should start with a fresh battery, but the light has been used for around 8 minutes now and I’m at 21 lumen. I will keep it on and see what we’ve got in an hour or so.

Edit:
–8 min 25 lumen
0 hrs 21 lumen
1 hrs 15 lumen
2.5 hrs 12.5 lumen
4 hrs 9.5 lumen

Yeah, that’s what I was up to :+1: .

I find the tint of the EX version nicer than both the other version and the ww Yuji. The spot is uneven, but that doesn’t really matter to me.

Think that might help the red C01 as well?

I doubt that (but I do not have one to check), the bad beam of the red C01 seems to me not caused by the reflector. I think it is because the light emitting area of the red led is much smaller than a white led because it has no wide phosfor layer. And small light sources need carefully manufactured optics to make a good beam, the top surface of a cheap chinese 5mm led is likely far from optical quality, or even 5mm Nichia leds.

Thanks djozz, I might try it tomorrow before I Scotch-Brite the led. Just to see if it helps.